Customer Reviews

SAMSUNG HT-P50 USB Home Theater System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is my first home theater system and I think the sound is great. I didn't expect the booming bass from its passive woofers. The speakers are nice looking and a cool feature about them is that you can mount them directly onto the wall without any extra parts. It's very innovative. One drawback is that you have to use the speaker wires provided. You can extend the range by adding wire but you need the provided wire to make the connection to the back of the unit. Also while operating the receiver it takes a bit of time to switch between modes, ie going from dvd to aux or from tuner to dvd, etc.

Overall I am happy with this unit, it rocks the house!!

Like another reviewer I found the fan noise to be intolerable after a month of use. I sent the unit to Samsung for warranty repair and waited 6 weeks for them to return it. Now after two weeks, the new fan is beginning to get loud again. It's loud enough to interfere with all but the loudest music and TV.

i bought the home theater system about a month ago to go with my sony 42" hdtv. i like most things about the system with the exception of a few. it takes a while for tv sound to come through the speakers. you turn the unit and the tv on and maybe like 5 seconds later sound comes out of the speakers. another issue that i noticed is that there is also a delay from when you press the disc tray to open and when it actually does. this elay is maybe only a few seconds but still annoying. it took me a while to figure out how to get the tv to play sound at of all the speakers. i was told by several people this was not even possible. (not true) you need to have the mode in pro logic and then it will work. make sure to wait a second because you may switch the mode and not hear anything but the delay causes it to take a while to kick in. i find the sound to be much cleaner when the tv speakers are turned off and just the surround sound puts out the sound. some great things about the sytem is just the sheer intensity of sound. watching dvd's is great especially if your neighbors are cool. this unit also has the ability to play mp3 and regular cd's. it is also hdmi compatable which i guess is the newest technology. the problem with hdmi is that the cord is one way only. that is to say that if you hook the hdmi cord up from the back of the tv to the back of the dvd player you will only get the media put into the player to be transferred to the tv. so if you want to watch a dvd you will have all of the benefits of the hdmi technology (singular cable, uncompressed signal, etc.) the dvd player will transfer a superior image to your tv. the problem is when you just want to watch tv. there is no way that you can transfer from the tv through the cable through the dvd player and out to your speakers so your stuck using rca outputs instead. hdmi is still worth it for what it does to your dvd's but don't pay over $25 bucks for your cord. i paid $130 for one that i quickly returned when i learned that it was only useful when watching dvd's. for $20 bucks i think it is still worth it and they sell them for that much or less. i love the spekers because they swivel and can be mounted on a wall or stand on a base. 1000 watts pushes out a lot of sound but not overpowering when you don't want it to be. also with a sony tv i have to use 2 remotes which i hate even though in the instructions for both there is supposedly a way to do everything off either remote. (i couldn't do it and would love for someone to tell me how) also has the ability to test each speaker and other cool features like a sound delay to exactly match the picture when there is a need to. i had a samsung tv but i didn't like it or i would have kept the brands the same. samsung is suprior to sony when it comes to audio. most other brands beat out sony in the audio arena. someone help me fix my multiple remote issues.

Pros : I got this system to go exclusively with my xbox 360(via digital optical output) and my HDTV, loved the fact the package offers 720p,1080i up-conversion which is a plus, I have used this unit connected ina Sony Bravia XBR1 40" LCD HDTV via hdmi cable and the up-conversion feature works really well, the image is really sharp and noiseless. I'm surprised with the sound quality, features and user-friendly installation(done myself in 5 minutes). My unit does not show any signs of noise. Have said that you can't beat the package for $340 bucks. I've also tested the USB with my MP3 player Muvo and works wonderfully, overall I'm very satisfied. Got it via amazon from jr.com and it arrived in perfect state although it took a week to arrive.

Cons : The receiver/player is a bit larger when compared with other HTIs. Once I opened the manual was not very clear as how to properly use the digital optical output. Not a big deal, but the remote control did not come with batteries. It could have had an active subwoofer to make it a 10.

I have been using this unit now for almost 2 months. I'm really satisfied with my purchase.

Having read about issues with Sony HTIBs and having installed my Dad's Sony, I approached the Samsung with a little trepidation. I get all this for about $300 less? What's the catch?

Well, it's easier to set up and has a few more features that have already come in handy. The drawbacks are minimal - if you're comparing this against a Sony and are concerned about price, stop right here and buy the Samsung.
This unit plays DVDs, CDs, VCDs, even DivX files off of a CD-R, as well as photo CDs and CDs with JPEGS. Not only that, it'll play music off of a flash drive through its included USB port. Think the DVD changer isn't for you? Yeah, it's really cool when you rent two movies and are finished watching one and don't want to disturb your sleeping date to get up and switch movies out of the player - load 'em all up and sit and watch.
The surround sound played beautifully, the DVD picture is crisp and clear and the up-sampling feature actually made a noticeable improvement on some DVDs versus a regular progressive player. I've had no problems with fan noise, but I'm EXTREMELY conservative about putting stuff near the back of the unit or on top of it and I don't think I've ever heard it come on.
There are about eleventy-sevn different audio inputs on the back including a fiber-optic input. Coupled with an HD tuner with fiber out, you get digital surround sound quality that's just SILLY over the air. Tune in to your local PBS HD station as soon as you get one of these and notice how cool it sounds.
My only gripes are with the speaker cables - they use proprietary connectors on the unit that don't allow you to upgrade your cables in the future. The Sony units I've seen have removeable connectors so that you can attach different or longer cables if you need to.
All in all, I've had no problems and have no complaints.

This thing has been great! I have owned it for over a year and a half. I love the quality and the small size. No noisy fans or any negatives. USB host is great. Can even hook a USB External HD to this thing. Haven't used HDMI yet but it's great to have for when I upgrade to a Flat panel.

Overall I have no complaints...the 1000 Watts is a little of an overstatement but it is plenty loud enough for home applications.

I bought two units thinking the first one was defective. They both produced the same problem. When in DVD mode, the image on my TV is on for 2 seconds, followed by black for two seconds. This loop is continuous but sound is constant. Called Samsung, and they think its a software (firmware) issue which is not compatible with my Toshiba TV. I found on a few other websites reviews from people who have the same problem. Samsung cannot fix the problem until enough people complain. I returned the system. Too Bad it looked great and sounded great.

I am a Sony fan but I bought HT-P50 because of it's a new product with great speaker design from Samsung. I like Samsung's cell phone a lot so I gave a chance and bought this from B&H Photo Video store (www.bhphotovideo.com) in NY via online. I like the overall of the product such as sound output and again nice speakers design.
But after two weeks later, when I turn it on from sleep-mode, I heard a loud noise from the back of the unit. I found out the noise is from cooling fan (just like a PC but smaller size). The noise is just like an old pc fan before it went bad. So I tap it lightly and the noise went away for a few seconds and then noise come back again. So I tap it again. This time the noise went away. Remember, this unit is only two weeks old! I never have bad experience with all of my Sony or Canon equipments.
Poor quality control from Samsung! I will NEVER buy Samsung product again. Don't have time to take it to authorized service dealer since I don't have time for this (put all into the box then drive 12 miles to the service center and left it for several weeks?). No way! I bought this to enjoy, not to spending money and then time to fix it.
I will not buy Samsung again! Ever!